Marlington's Ty Raybuck was finishing up football two years ago at this time.

Little did he know he would be running next to a dragstrip and successfully competing for all-state cross country honors his junior year.

Raybuck finished 10th in the boys Division II race in 16:25.31 during Saturday's state meet at National Trail Raceway. The former receiver was encouraged to try out for cross country after he also ran track as a freshman. He now has two state appearances and an All-Ohio honor on his résumé.

"I could have been decent at football, but I wanted to give something else a try," Raybuck said. "I'm pretty small, but I'm obviously growing now."

Raybuck adopted the right mentality to distance running and has enjoyed two successful seasons. His finish Saturday came a year after he was 37th in his first state meet.

"My plan was to come in and be in the top 10," Raybuck said. "… I just wanted to come in and go as hard as I could. I had the hip injury, and it didn't really bother me today."

A year after falling one spot short of a state berth, Lake junior Jacob Kernell also went home Saturday as an All-Ohioan.

Kernell finished 14th in the Division I race in 15:49.34 to earn a spot on the awards podium in his first state meet.

"The time was a little off, but I can't argue with 14th place," Kernell said. "That's about what I imagined. That's what I was hoping for. … I was happy I was able to achieve that. It's a real blessing."

The Federal League claimed a boys state title.

Mark Hadley, in Boardman's final season in the league, won the Division I race by almost 11 seconds. His time was 15:10.63.

Kernell and other area Division I runners have been chasing Hadley all year. No one caught him. Hadley finished the season undefeated.

"To see Hadley up front winning it, it's no surprise to me," Kernell said. "It's always fun to be able to compete against him. It's amazing to have such fierce competition right next to you. It's real motivation and it's part of what makes me a better runner each year."

Louisville finished 10th in the boys Division I team standings. Freshman Nick Chaplik was 58th in 16:31.85 to lead the Leopards.